The Bay Area schools won’t produce any top-10 recruiting classes on national signing day and probably won’t be movers and shakers in the frenetic final hours Wednesday.

Instead, here’s what Cal, Stanford and San Jose State will be doing, from the early morning until the final letter of intent of the day arrives — and for the next eight months:

Crossing fingers that their defensive line recruits are as good as expected.

That position, so difficult to stock and yet so critical to success, is the thread that links the Spartans, Cardinal and Bears this week. All three need help up front, and they need it immediately.

Stanford must replace all three starters from a unit that was perilously thin last season.

The Bears had no pass rush to speak of in a conference that’s all about the aerial game.

San Jose State must secure a defense that was No. 116 in the nation against the run.

Defensive line isn’t a glamour position — it doesn’t typically generate the most attention on signing day. But for the local teams, it’s the position to watch.

Here’s a preview of what to expect Wednesday for the Cardinal, Bears and Spartans:

Stanford

In keeping with past practice, Stanford is not expected to fill its allotment of scholarships. (The total is in the mid-20s.) Coach David Shaw will keep a few in his pocket.

One or two prospects might commit at the last minute, but it will be nothing like the memorable signing day three years ago when the Cardinal corralled five top prospects.

Stanford’s 2015 class of 20 prospects should be ranked in the top 25 in the nation and the top half of the Pac-12 — below UCLA and USC, for sure, and perhaps Oregon, Washington and Arizona State as well.

The Cardinal only achieved that status after an impressive final two weeks in which it received commitments from a half-dozen players, including 4-star running back Bryce Love of Wake Forest, North Carolina, who reportedly had scholarship offers from numerous schools in the SEC.

Receiver Trent Irwin from Newhall is the most-decorated player in the class. The sixth-ranked receiver in the country (according to the Rivals recruiting service), he’s a potential instant-impact player.

The class will have at least three defensive linemen — tackle Wesley Annan and ends Gabe Reid and Dylan Jackson — and several offensive linemen, including Jack Dreyer, a 6-foot-8 prospect from Serra High School.

One thing it probably won’t have is a quarterback. The roster is well-stocked at the position with four returnees ranging from senior Kevin Hogan, a three-year starter, to Keller Chryst, the heralded redshirt freshman.

Cal

Recruiting classes typically take three or four years to mature. Cal coach Sonny Dykes, whose team has won three conference games in two years, needs his 2015 group to grow up in the next six months.

Upgrading the pass rush is essential, which makes Russell Ude, a four-star defensive end from Atlanta, one of Cal’s most important recruits.

As anyone who watched the Bears play can attest, the secondary is also in dire need of fortification. They signed one defensive back in December (Derron Brown, a junior college transfer) and should add at least five more Wednesday.

The 23-player class will be rated in the middle of the Pac-12 by the Rivals and Scout recruiting services.

It features one quarterback, Ross Bowers of Bothell, Washington, who signed in December, and is loaded with players from the southeastern quadrant of the country.

That’s not an issue in the short term — geography matters little when immediate help is required — but it could pose problems over time if the practice continues.

The Bears cannot succeed in the Pac-12 over the long haul without the Los Angeles basin forming the backbone of their roster.

San Jose State

As the Spartans announce their class throughout the day, keep in mind: It could have been worse.

SJSU locked up the majority of its commitments before the 2014 season, which began poorly, bumped along, then cratered in November.

Half of the 25 recruits expected to sign Wednesday — and that number could grow — were committed before the season opener.

The class includes at least five defensive line prospects, is heavy on players from Southern California and has been well received by the recruiting analysts: It could be rated No. 2 in the Mountain West, depending on signing day developments.

The lofty rating is partly a result of size — it’s one of the biggest classes in the league. In terms of quality of individual players, the group ranks fourth, according to Rivals.

Either way, it’s an impressive accomplishment for coach Ron Caragher and his staff and a testament to the benefits of corralling players early. (Caragher, like Dykes, needs immediate help to solidify his long-term job security.)

The Spartans have one quarterback on the way: Kenny Potter from Long Beach City College, has enrolled. Another prospect, Cameron Burston of Hayward, attends Stellar Prep, which has not been certified by the NCAA. He is not expected to sign Wednesday.

Despite what you've heard, Jon Wilner is not an alumnus of the Pac-12 university you despise the most. (He went to school on the East Coast.) Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP top-25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree.